The Relationship Between One's Mental State and His/Her Artwork:How Did Schizophrenia Affect the Way Louis Wain Drew?
Louis Wain's cats, changing gradually as his illness worsened
Preface
My key question is "How did schizophrenia affect the way Louis Wain drew?" Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that involves breakdown in relation between emotion, thought, and behavior. Schizophrenic people have odd behaviors, hallucinations, or strange ideas. I chose to explore the drawings of Louis Wain, an artist who had schizophrenia. I found out about Louis Wain by watching a documentary on TV, and this subject interested me since I was always extremely interested in artists with schizophrenia, like Vincent van Gogh. He drew anthropomorphic cats, and his drawings clearly showed the progress of his illness. The distortions became more and more extreme as Louis Wain developed his illness. This page was created to show and analyze exactly how his artworks changed over time. Using three different genres, I am going to answer my key question.
Genre #1
Introduction
My first genre is an informative research paper. This genre will answer my key question directly and provide facts about my topic. In this research paper, there are informations about Louis Wain's early life and about the events that led him to develop schizophrenia. I tried to mainly focus on discussing how Louis Wain's illness affected his drawings and analyzing his works. This genre will lead to my other two genres.
Research Paper
Hannah Choi
October 26, 2009
Louis Wain
It is very hard to understand the complex minds of people with mental disorders. Psychologists observe these people’s minds by analyzing their artworks. It is known that the artworks of people with mental disorders serve as "windows" to their minds. When the artworks of people with mental disorders are observed, a common pattern can be found: the distortion of recognizable forms. It is commonly theorized that this pattern is the evidence of the patients' hallucinatory experiences (Killick, Schaverien 135). Psychologists study the artworks of people with mental disorders to gain access to the mental world of the psychotic and to find out various theories about how they departed from the normal. The most frequently studied is Louis Wain and his cats. Even though Louis Wain is not widely known to our generation, when he was alive, he was widely known as an artist who drew anthropomorphic cats. However, Louis Wain’s fame decreased as he developed schizophrenia, because as his illness progressed, Wain’s cats started to change gradually. Louis Wain, who was famous for drawing furry, friendly, and sweet anthropomorphic cats, started drawing his cats as demonic, sinister, and terrifying creatures and as patterns resembling cats, as a result of the late onset of schizophrenia (Dale 52).
Louis Wain, an English artist, was born in London in 1860. When he grew up, he studied art at West London School of Art, and at the age of twenty, he became a freelance artist specializing in animals and country scenes. Later, he became widely known for drawing anthropomorphic, or humanized, cat illustrations. He started drawing cats due to a tragic event (Daily Post). At the age of 23, Wain married his sisters’ governess, Emily Richardson. However, Wain's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died in three years. While she was ill, in order to entertain his wife, Louis Wain got a black and white cat named Peter. He taught Peter how to wear glasses and hold the newspaper and drew her favorite pet to entertain her on her sickbed. Wain drew Peter in an anthropomorphic, or humanized, form. Looking at his wonderful drawings, his wife persuaded him to send the drawings to newspapers and magazines. In 1886, Louis Wain’s first drawings of cats, called “A Cats Christmas,” was published. Soon, Louis Wain became widely known for drawing anthropomorphic cats in both Britain and the United States. He published cat drawings for over thirty years. However, in 1917, after World War I, the interest in cats diminished, and Louis Wain reached his personal crisis. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and soon after, he fell in poverty. Wain was sent to Springfield Mental Hospital to spend the rest of his life there.
Even after Louis Wain gained schizophrenia, he continued to draw cats. The gradual progress of schizophrenia is reflected in his works. With his mind, developing into an unusual one, his artworks continued to change unusually as well. Looking at Wain's drawings, the doctors were confused at the time, because his drawings kept on changing. His cats that were drawn after he got ill shows the visual distortions perceived by a mind being ravaged by schizophrenia (Kohler). In Louis Wain's anthropomorphic cat drawings that were drawn before he was diagnosed with schizophrenia are observed, a few common characteristics can be found: they had wide eyes, they were furry, they had happy facial expressions, and they were usually doing something enjoyable. Wain’s early work is dominated by sweet, sentimental, and fanciful imagery of anthropomorphic cats. Back then, his cats had wide eyes, they were furry, and they seemed friendly. They were usually partying and having fun. When Louis Wain was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the facial expressions of the cats turned demonic. They no longer did enjoyable things. They fought each other or were just alone. Also, their pupils were dilated and intense, and the ears were down. The important thing to note is his cats' eyes. They became sneakier and more depressing. As he was suffering from schizophrenia, his cats started giving off bright colored lined. Louis Wain was seeing and feeling living organisms giving off electromagnetic light. This is common to all schizophrenic artists. As schizophrenia developed more, Wain's cats became more and more disjointed. Eventually, he started drawing cats using patterns of colorful polygons. It became pure geometric abstraction and psychedelic fractals. He made them abstract, using symmetrical repeating patterns (Cardoso). He said that he saw the walls "crawling with geometric hallucinations." When Louis Wain was close to his death, his cats could no longer be recognized as cats.
Due to schizophrenia, Louis Wain's drawings and paintings of cats turned from lovely anthropomorphic cats, to depressing cats, then to unrecognizable abstract geometric shapes. Louis Wain's drawings show the complexity of the minds of people with mental disorders. As he suffered more and more, his drawings got more and more pessimistic and disjointed. The evident progress of his illness reflected in his drawings is still an issue studied widely by psychologists. Wain, like many other late-onset schizophrenics, never recovered from his illness, and died in 1939.
For genre #2, I wrote diaries in Louis Wain's point of view. I wrote multiple diaries to show the progress of Louis Wain's illness and his mental state. This will answer the key question by helping us understand what he thought of as he drew his cats; the changes in his thoughts were what drove the changes in his drawings. I tried my best to express his feelings through words.
Diaries 1883
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow is my wedding day. I am finally going to marry Emily. We have overcome many hardships to marry each other, because Emily is ten years older than me. Our parents told us that we cannot marry each other, because Emily is too old for me, and I am too young for Emily. We had hard times persuading our parents to let us marry, and finally, they allowed us to do what we wish. I am looking forward to marrying Emily.
1885
Dear Diary,
Emily and I went to the hospital a few months ago. There, Emily was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is having a hard time right now. For Emily, a few weeks after, I bought a cat for her. Thankfully, Emily liked him. We named him Peter. Emily seems to feel better when she is with Peter. I taught Peter many tricks, including wearing glasses, and drew Peter for her, in order to entertain her. After looking at these pictures, today, Emily suggested me to send them to newspapers and magazines to get them published. I am planning to send them tomorrow. I hope this works out well.
1886
Dear Diary,
After doing what Emily suggested me, I have become famous for drawing anthropomorphic cats. I feel thrilled when people say that they like my cats. However, Emily is not here with me anymore. She died a few months ago. If I didn't have something to do, I would have gone crazy already without Emily. I thank Emily for giving me a job to do before she left. Even though I cannot earn lots of money, because I cannot gain copy right for my cats, I am still happy that I have something to do. Everyone knows that they are my cats, and I am satisfied with that.
1924
Dear Diary,
People don’t want my drawings anymore. Are they sick of my drawings? I have nothing to do now. I have no money saved, since I couldn't earn lots of money for my drawings. There is nothing to distract me from thinking of Emily. I feel depressed everyday, and I feel annoyed with everyone around me. Even my family annoys me. I don't want them near me. Sometimes, I find out that I had lost myself and hit my sisters. I feel guilty when I come to my senses, but don't remember what happened. Now, I just don’t feel like drawing cats with big eyes and lovely furs as I used to, because it contradicts how I feel right now. I want to draw violent, depressed cats.
1926
Dear Diary,
I am at the hospital right now. My sisters put me in here. Here, I see cats showing off light. I see them everyday. In order to get them out of my head, I draw them as I see. I can't control what I am drawing now. I just draw what I see to get them out of me.
1930
Dear Diary,
I see cats torn in pieces. In patterns. They are fractured. I don't get why they are. Why am I the only one who sees the hallucinations? What is happening?
Genre #3 Introduction
I chose to make animations for my last genre. This animation will help the viewers learn many facts and, at the same time, have fun. This will support my first two genres with visuals. I thought making an animation was most appropriate, because it helped me answer the key question in a form that everyone can understand easily. This animation adds on to my second genre. This is basically the visual version of my second genre in third person perspective, but I thought this was necessary since the changes in his drawings should be actually seen instead of being just read. In this animation, the life of Louis Wain and the changes in his drawings are portrayed.
Animation
Works Cited
Made Animation at
Ryco. "GoAnimate" GoAnimate - Create your own cartoons and animations easily. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://goanimate.com>.
Music
Ryco. "GoAnimate" GoAnimate - Create your own cartoons and animations easily. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://goanimate.com>.
Epilogue
After doing this multi-genre project, I have learned a lot of things about Louis Wain and his complex mind that changed the style of his drawings. Before doing this project, I was only interested in Vincent van Gogh. However, now, I am interested in how the artists' drawings change due to mental disorders in general. I hope that the viewers of this page have learned a lot about Louis Wain that most of them are unfamiliar with, get a glimpse of how schizophrenics think, and how one's mental state relates to their artwork.
Preface
My key question is "How did schizophrenia affect the way Louis Wain drew?" Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that involves breakdown in relation between emotion, thought, and behavior. Schizophrenic people have odd behaviors, hallucinations, or strange ideas. I chose to explore the drawings of Louis Wain, an artist who had schizophrenia. I found out about Louis Wain by watching a documentary on TV, and this subject interested me since I was always extremely interested in artists with schizophrenia, like Vincent van Gogh. He drew anthropomorphic cats, and his drawings clearly showed the progress of his illness. The distortions became more and more extreme as Louis Wain developed his illness. This page was created to show and analyze exactly how his artworks changed over time. Using three different genres, I am going to answer my key question.
Genre #1
IntroductionMy first genre is an informative research paper. This genre will answer my key question directly and provide facts about my topic. In this research paper, there are informations about Louis Wain's early life and about the events that led him to develop schizophrenia. I tried to mainly focus on discussing how Louis Wain's illness affected his drawings and analyzing his works. This genre will lead to my other two genres.
Research PaperHannah Choi
October 26, 2009
Louis Wain
It is very hard to understand the complex minds of people with mental disorders. Psychologists observe these people’s minds by analyzing their artworks. It is known that the artworks of people with mental disorders serve as "windows" to their minds. When the artworks of people with mental disorders are observed, a common pattern can be found: the distortion of recognizable forms. It is commonly theorized that this pattern is the evidence of the patients' hallucinatory experiences (Killick, Schaverien 135). Psychologists study the artworks of people with mental disorders to gain access to the mental world of the psychotic and to find out various theories about how they departed from the normal. The most frequently studied is Louis Wain and his cats. Even though Louis Wain is not widely known to our generation, when he was alive, he was widely known as an artist who drew anthropomorphic cats. However, Louis Wain’s fame decreased as he developed schizophrenia, because as his illness progressed, Wain’s cats started to change gradually. Louis Wain, who was famous for drawing furry, friendly, and sweet anthropomorphic cats, started drawing his cats as demonic, sinister, and terrifying creatures and as patterns resembling cats, as a result of the late onset of schizophrenia (Dale 52).
Louis Wain, an English artist, was born in London in 1860. When he grew up, he studied art at West London School of Art, and at the age of twenty, he became a freelance artist specializing in animals and country scenes. Later, he became widely known for drawing anthropomorphic, or humanized, cat illustrations. He started drawing cats due to a tragic event (Daily Post). At the age of 23, Wain married his sisters’ governess, Emily Richardson. However, Wain's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she died in three years. While she was ill, in order to entertain his wife, Louis Wain got a black and white cat named Peter. He taught Peter how to wear glasses and hold the newspaper and drew her favorite pet to entertain her on her sickbed. Wain drew Peter in an anthropomorphic, or humanized, form. Looking at his wonderful drawings, his wife persuaded him to send the drawings to newspapers and magazines. In 1886, Louis Wain’s first drawings of cats, called “A Cats Christmas,” was published. Soon, Louis Wain became widely known for drawing anthropomorphic cats in both Britain and the United States. He published cat drawings for over thirty years. However, in 1917, after World War I, the interest in cats diminished, and Louis Wain reached his personal crisis. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and soon after, he fell in poverty. Wain was sent to Springfield Mental Hospital to spend the rest of his life there.
Even after Louis Wain gained schizophrenia, he continued to draw cats. The gradual progress of schizophrenia is reflected in his works. With his mind, developing into an unusual one, his artworks continued to change unusually as well. Looking at Wain's drawings, the doctors were confused at the time, because his drawings kept on changing. His cats that were drawn after he got ill shows the visual distortions perceived by a mind being ravaged by schizophrenia (Kohler). In Louis Wain's anthropomorphic cat drawings that were drawn before he was diagnosed with schizophrenia are observed, a few common characteristics can be found: they had wide eyes, they were furry, they had happy facial expressions, and they were usually doing something enjoyable. Wain’s early work is dominated by sweet, sentimental, and fanciful imagery of anthropomorphic cats. Back then, his cats had wide eyes, they were furry, and they seemed friendly. They were usually partying and having fun. When Louis Wain was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the facial expressions of the cats turned demonic. They no longer did enjoyable things. They fought each other or were just alone. Also, their pupils were dilated and intense, and the ears were down. The important thing to note is his cats' eyes. They became sneakier and more depressing. As he was suffering from schizophrenia, his cats started giving off bright colored lined. Louis Wain was seeing and feeling living organisms giving off electromagnetic light. This is common to all schizophrenic artists. As schizophrenia developed more, Wain's cats became more and more disjointed. Eventually, he started drawing cats using patterns of colorful polygons. It became pure geometric abstraction and psychedelic fractals. He made them abstract, using symmetrical repeating patterns (Cardoso). He said that he saw the walls "crawling with geometric hallucinations." When Louis Wain was close to his death, his cats could no longer be recognized as cats.
Due to schizophrenia, Louis Wain's drawings and paintings of cats turned from lovely anthropomorphic cats, to depressing cats, then to unrecognizable abstract geometric shapes. Louis Wain's drawings show the complexity of the minds of people with mental disorders. As he suffered more and more, his drawings got more and more pessimistic and disjointed. The evident progress of his illness reflected in his drawings is still an issue studied widely by psychologists. Wain, like many other late-onset schizophrenics, never recovered from his illness, and died in 1939.
Works Cited
"Antiques: So Who Was This Louis Wain?." Daily Post (Liverpool, England) 21 Jan. 2006: 7. Questia. 8 Sept. 2009
<http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5012369585>.
Cardoso, Silvia. "Neuroscience Art Gallery: Art by Psychotics. Louis Wain." "Brain & Mind" Magazine. 8 Sept. 2009
<http://www.cerebromente.org.br/gallery/gall_leonardo/fig1-a.htm>.
"Comic creator: Louis Wain." Lambiek.Net. 8 Sep. 2009
<http://lambiek.net/artists/w/wain_louis.htm>.
Dale, Rodney. Louis Wain - The Man Who Drew Cats. Sinclear- Stevenson Limited: Chris Beetles (Distribution), 2006.
"Factsheet: Schizophrenia: What You Need to Know." Mental Health America. 17 Sep. 2009
<http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/go/information/get-info/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-what-you-need-to-know>.
Killick, K., and J. Schaverien. Art, Psychotherapy, and Psychosis. New York: Routledge, 1997.
Kohler. "Seeing Schizophrenia." The New York Times. (July 22, 1999): NA. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Korea International School. 17 Sep. 2009
<http://find.galegroup.com/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T004&prodid=OVRC&docId=A149862004&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=krkis&version=1.0>.
"Life Cat, Like Mistress." The New York Times. 17 Sep. 2009
<http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C00E3D71438E433A2575AC1A9679D94699ED7CF>.
Genre #2
Introduction
For genre #2, I wrote diaries in Louis Wain's point of view. I wrote multiple diaries to show the progress of Louis Wain's illness and his mental state. This will answer the key question by helping us understand what he thought of as he drew his cats; the changes in his thoughts were what drove the changes in his drawings. I tried my best to express his feelings through words.
Diaries
1883
Dear Diary,
Tomorrow is my wedding day. I am finally going to marry Emily. We have overcome many hardships to marry each other, because Emily is ten years older than me. Our parents told us that we cannot marry each other, because Emily is too old for me, and I am too young for Emily. We had hard times persuading our parents to let us marry, and finally, they allowed us to do what we wish. I am looking forward to marrying Emily.
1885
Dear Diary,
Emily and I went to the hospital a few months ago. There, Emily was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is having a hard time right now. For Emily, a few weeks after, I bought a cat for her. Thankfully, Emily liked him. We named him Peter. Emily seems to feel better when she is with Peter. I taught Peter many tricks, including wearing glasses, and drew Peter for her, in order to entertain her. After looking at these pictures, today, Emily suggested me to send them to newspapers and magazines to get them published. I am planning to send them tomorrow. I hope this works out well.
1886
Dear Diary,
After doing what Emily suggested me, I have become famous for drawing anthropomorphic cats. I feel thrilled when people say that they like my cats. However, Emily is not here with me anymore. She died a few months ago. If I didn't have something to do, I would have gone crazy already without Emily. I thank Emily for giving me a job to do before she left. Even though I cannot earn lots of money, because I cannot gain copy right for my cats, I am still happy that I have something to do. Everyone knows that they are my cats, and I am satisfied with that.
1924
Dear Diary,
People don’t want my drawings anymore. Are they sick of my drawings? I have nothing to do now. I have no money saved, since I couldn't earn lots of money for my drawings. There is nothing to distract me from thinking of Emily. I feel depressed everyday, and I feel annoyed with everyone around me. Even my family annoys me. I don't want them near me. Sometimes, I find out that I had lost myself and hit my sisters. I feel guilty when I come to my senses, but don't remember what happened. Now, I just don’t feel like drawing cats with big eyes and lovely furs as I used to, because it contradicts how I feel right now. I want to draw violent, depressed cats.
1926
Dear Diary,
I am at the hospital right now. My sisters put me in here. Here, I see cats showing off light. I see them everyday. In order to get them out of my head, I draw them as I see. I can't control what I am drawing now. I just draw what I see to get them out of me.
1930
Dear Diary,
I see cats torn in pieces. In patterns. They are fractured. I don't get why they are. Why am I the only one who sees the hallucinations? What is happening?
Genre #3
Introduction
I chose to make animations for my last genre. This animation will help the viewers learn many facts and, at the same time, have fun. This will support my first two genres with visuals. I thought making an animation was most appropriate, because it helped me answer the key question in a form that everyone can understand easily. This animation adds on to my second genre. This is basically the visual version of my second genre in third person perspective, but I thought this was necessary since the changes in his drawings should be actually seen instead of being just read. In this animation, the life of Louis Wain and the changes in his drawings are portrayed.
Animation
Works Cited
Made Animation at
Ryco. "GoAnimate" GoAnimate - Create your own cartoons and animations easily. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://goanimate.com>.
Music
Ryco. "GoAnimate" GoAnimate - Create your own cartoons and animations easily. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://goanimate.com>.
Pictures
"A Cats' Christmas Dance." Chris Beetles. 20 Oct. 2009
<http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/picture.php?pic=66835>.
"Artist Louis Wain depicts The Effects of CP." Lycæum - Entheogenic Database & Community. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://www.lycaeum.org/mv/cp/>.
Cardoso, Silvia. "Neuroscience Art Gallery: Art by Psychotics. Louis Wain." "Brain & Mind" Magazine. 8 Sept. 2009
<http://www.cerebromente.org.br/gallery/gall_leonardo/fig1-a.htm>.
"Carl Junker and Friends." Lemonodor. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://lemonodor.com/archives/000573.html>.
"Comic creator: Louis Wain." Lambiek.Net comics+art. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://lambiek.net/artists/w/wain_louis.htm>.
"Louis Wain." Galaxy Glue. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://seancasio.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/louis-wain/>.
"Louis Wain's Cat Gallery." WonderRanchPublishing.com. 25 Oct. 2009
<http://www.wonderranchpublishing.com/Cats/index.htm>.
Epilogue
After doing this multi-genre project, I have learned a lot of things about Louis Wain and his complex mind that changed the style of his drawings. Before doing this project, I was only interested in Vincent van Gogh. However, now, I am interested in how the artists' drawings change due to mental disorders in general. I hope that the viewers of this page have learned a lot about Louis Wain that most of them are unfamiliar with, get a glimpse of how schizophrenics think, and how one's mental state relates to their artwork.